Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI reflects on the Parable of the sower:
“In some ways this is an ‘autobiographical’ episode because it reflects Jesus’ own experience as a preacher. He identifies Himself with the sower who, while spreading the good seed of God’s Word, becomes aware of the differing effects it produces depending on the way it is accepted.
There are those who listen superficially but fail to welcome it; those who accept it immediately but have no constancy and lose everything; those who are overwhelmed by the cares and lures of the world, and those who receive and absorb it like good soil, for them the Word brings forth abundant fruit…..
God does not force us to believe in Him; rather, He draws us to Him with the truth and goodness of His incarnate Son. Love, in fact, always respects freedom”.